


Out of the Water

by InevitableConfusion



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Merpeople, F/M, Fluff, Underwater World
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-15
Updated: 2015-03-15
Packaged: 2018-03-18 00:42:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3549668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InevitableConfusion/pseuds/InevitableConfusion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Annabeth is a mermaid and Percy is... well... <i> sometimes </i> a merman.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Out of the Water

A frown tugged at the corners of Annabeth’s mouth as she looked down at the piece of coral in her hand. She had decided she’d make a hair piece for Piper’s birthday, one out of coral that was dark purple (which was her favorite color). And the piece she currently held was perfect – good size and shape, clean cut so that she would have to do minimal work on it, and utterly gorgeous. Except for one big, problematic flaw. It had been dyed a bright blue.

She looked up at the vendor standing in front of her. Other merpeople came and went, bustling around and trying to get whatever they needed before the shops closed for the day. “Excuse me, do you have this in purple?”

The vendor shook his head. “Sorry, ma’am, that’s the last one I have. Won’t get any more for a few weeks.”

Annabeth bit her lip, clutching the coral in her hand and weighing her options. She could wait, but her friend’s birthday was coming up fast and there was no guarantee that “a few weeks” would come before then. She looked down at the bright blue object. Blue was close enough to purple, right?

She pulled out the correct amount of sand dollars and set them on the counter, sticking the coral into her bag and bidding the man a good day. Piper would love it no matter what. She swam toward the edge of the market at a leisurely pace, enjoying not having anywhere to be for once, when something glinted in the corner of her eye. She turned her head, noticing that it came from a stand near the end of the row, just inside the main entrance. Intrigued, she made her way towards the shining object.

There on the rock sat a beautiful string of pearls, interspersed with gold and beach glass that was as green as the sea, the color reminding her of someone she knew. The piece seemed like something that belonged to the gods, not something for mere _mortals._ She reached out and gently touched the jewelry, almost reverently, as if she might break it. When it didn’t break, she picked it up and ran a thumb across the smooth, weathered glass, mind flicking back to her friend. She hadn’t seen him for a while, now that she thought of it. Hopefully he was doing okay.

“You have fine taste, lass. One of my best imports you have there.”

She was startled out of her thoughts and looked up into the kindly face of the stall owner. “Imports?”

“Indeed!” he boomed, smiling proudly, “I own a trading company, you see. That there piece that you’re holding? Got _that_ from the Indian Ocean. The man who made it claimed the pearls came from the Great Reef itself!”

All the energy rushed out of her in an instant. If it was really from the Great Barrier Reef, it would cost a fortune. Which she didn’t have.

“Would you like me to ring you up?”

“Oh, no, I’m sorry,” Annabeth sighed, trying to shove her disappointment back, “I’m afraid I don’t have enough to pay for – ”

“She’ll take it.”

She whipped around at the new voice, an argument waiting on her tongue, but it died before it could get past her lips. Her face split into a huge, goofy grin and she rushed forward, throwing her arms around the man in front of her.

“Percy!” He laughed, letting her momentum spin them around before pulling away and smiling at her. “What are you doing here? Where have you been?”

“Around,” he shrugged nonchalantly before taking the pearls from her hand and turning to the vendor. “How much is this?”

“No, no, I can’t ask you to do this,” Annabeth insisted, putting her hand on the one that held the jewels and pushing it down gently.

He threw her a stubborn smile that was both infuriating and exciting. “You’re not asking. I’m offering.”

“But –”

“Will this cover it?” He pulled out two silver coins, some of the rarest currency in the entire Mid-Atlantic, obviously taken from an old shipwreck. The stall vendor gaped, only managing a nod after a full minute of sputtering. He took the silver happily and bagged up the pearls, handing them to Percy, who then offered them to Annabeth. She almost refused them, but hesitantly reached out and took the bag when she found herself on the receiving end of a stern glare, which instantly dissolved to a content grin once the gift left his hands.

“Come on,” Percy grabbed her hand and started swimming towards the exit, both of them waving goodbye at the salesman who excitedly insisted they come back soon. As soon as they were clear of people, Percy started swerving unnecessarily, weaving between objects and acting like they were on a stealth mission. A laugh bubbled up from her throat.

“Percy, where are you taking me?”

He turned to flash her that dazzling smile, the kind that only a god was capable of, and she found herself unable to hold back her own grin. “I want to show you something I found.”

He pulled her along for a few more minutes and kept up his antics as she tried (and failed) to guess where he was taking her. She didn’t give up, though.

“Is it a shipwreck?”

“Nope. We’re almost there, though.”

A familiar wave of pressure rippled past her and she looked down to find his tail gone, replaced with two strong human legs. This was the secret he entrusted her with – Percy was not a merman. Well, okay, _sometimes_ he was, but not really. He was a God of the Sea, one of Poseidon’s many sons. He had an impressive influence on the sea and most of its creatures (excluding merpeople) and he could shift his shape into many different things. But he hated special attention, so he hid it all and pretended he was one of them; only Annabeth knew otherwise. He suddenly stopped and she looked forward, shrinking back at what she saw. Her grin instantly dropped.

A wall of sand stood before her. One that led up to the surface.

They were on a shore.

Annabeth flinched, feeling anxiety start to clench in her chest. “Percy, I don’t –”

“Trust me, Annabeth,” he looked at her, eyes shining.

She squeezed his hand for a moment, then nodded tightly. He dug his toes into the sand – she wondered briefly what it felt like to have toes – and then wrapped one arm around her back and the other beneath her fin. She steeled her nerves.

And then, all at once, they were above the water.

.

.

.

The first thing she noticed once they entered the world above was that she saw nothing. Almost out of instinct, Annabeth had clenched her eyes tightly shut before they broke through the gentle waves. Through magnificent stories and childlike wonder, she had acquired a deep fascination with the surface, and at the same time, a terrible fear. She was afraid of what she might see – fishermen, destruction, pollution – but more than that, she was afraid of what she might not see. What if the world above didn’t measure up to the fantastical idea that had formed in her imagination? What if it was just a barren emptiness? She did not open her eyes.

The second thing she noticed was that everything felt profoundly different. Her hair no longer felt weightless and stuck to her skin everywhere. She felt much heavier in Percy’s arms, which in turn felt much stronger. She could feel each muscle individually as they clenched and moved beneath her body while he walked out of the water and onto dry land. Speaking of Percy, his skin felt different. It was… _drier._ Rougher. Warmer. Percy said nothing as she released the hands that were clasped behind his neck and let them roam across his shoulders tentatively, like a blind person feeling the world around them. She moved her hands to her own skin, surprised (and yet not) to find that it had the same sort of feeling. Percy had stopped moving at this point.

Eventually, curiosity got the better of her. She cautiously peeked one eye open, glancing down at her arms. Soon, both eyes were open and she stared intently. Little circles of water sat all over her skin, sometimes falling off or drying up. She moved her hand across her arm and the water moved with it. Her brow furrowed in concentration.

This was weird.

When she looked up at Percy to voice her questions, she went slack-jawed. He smiled down at her as water rolled down his skin and dripped off his long eyelashes. His dark hair was, for once, not bouncing around his face, but instead lay stuck to his forehead, curling slightly as it dried.

She reached up and gently touched a lock of hair, marveling silently. It wasn’t quite as soft as it was in the water, but it was soft in its own right.

She lowered her gaze to his face and caught Percy’s heated stare, and she suddenly realized what she was doing. Her face tingled. She snatched her hand back and looked away, taking a deep breath and deciding to finally face what she had been avoiding: the surface world.

She glanced around. Then,

“This is it?”

The land that they were on was very tiny and consisted of dry sand and three large plants with brown stems and green tops, and some dry sea grass spread out in the shade. Disappointment sunk deep in her chest.

“Well, yes and no.” She turned to him and raised an eyebrow, so he continued, “The thing I want to show you is not here yet.”

“But it will get here,” she said, more a statement than a question. 

A wind whipped by and rustled her hair, startling her. She frowned and gripped his arm tightly, eyes wildly darting all around for the unseen assailant. He chuckled at her antics. “That’s just a breeze, Annabeth.”

“Bree-ss?” She cocked her head, sounding out the new word on her tongue.

“ _Breeze._ It’s like… it’s kind of like an ocean current, but for air.”

“Oh.” Percy readjusted his grip on her and she felt another breeze ghost her skin. Still a bit unnerving, but she wasn’t as concerned as before. “So, what do we do until the thing gets here?”

“We wait.”

Then Percy started sinking down. Annabeth tensed, wrapping her arms around him tightly and staring with wide eyes as the sand came closer and closer. Soon, he sat down completely, his legs bent and crossed over each other in a strange way. He settled her on top of them.

They sat there in silence, Annabeth not tearing her eyes from the ground.

After several minutes, she tentatively reached out and touched the sand with one finger. When nothing happened, she slowly eased her entire hand onto it, then into it. She grabbed it in her fist, then let it leak out between her fingers.

It was soft, like mud. Just… not wet. But still familiar.

“Percy,” she whispered, breathless.

This was the moment. The moment she had looked forward to and desperately feared for most of her life. The moment she touched dry land. And it was new and exciting, but not altogether different. Not scary. Just dry. Her heart beat faster in her chest.

She unlatched her other hand from Percy’s body and reached out, almost desperately, to touch the sand, to grab as much of it as she could in her hands. It was warm and it was soft and it was _familiar_ but different. And it was exciting. With some minor effort, she rolled off of his lap and the sand touched her stomach and chest, her body sinking a bit in it.

Warm. Soft.

“Percy!” she laughed, eyes glittering as she buried her hands, only to bring them back up moments later. His laughter joined hers, at once understanding her feelings without her having to say anything else. She did her best to flatten her body to the ground, slowly waving her arms across the grains and giggling at the feeling. It almost looked like she was swimming.

With a grin bright on her face, she flipped her body over and lay on her back, then froze when she looked up. Concerned, Percy followed her gaze, then smiled softly and looked back down at her. Annabeth’s eyes were still locked on the sky.

_It was so blue._

She had never seen that shade of blue before. Not in the ocean, not on any fish, not anywhere. Her hands played absently with the sand, gathering loose fistfuls and letting it run through her fingers. Nothing marred the beautiful color; no animals, no other colors, just blue.

She locked gazes with the man beside her, but all words had vanished from her tongue. He simply smiled, cheeks dimpling and eyes crinkling at the corners, before stretching dramatically and laying down next to her, hands behind his head. The sky captured her attention once again and she lay there in silence, tail flicking as a warm breeze blew over them. A smile tugged at the corners of her lips.

Warmed from both above and below, she slowly drifted off to sleep.

.

.

.

“Annabeth. Annabeth, wake up.”

Annabeth stirred from her nap, pouting and grumbling at being woken when she was so comfortable. A voice that she recognized as Percy let out a small laugh and a short puff of air fanned across her face, hot on her skin. She shivered. Blearily, she blinked her eyes open and squinted at the man who was mere inches from her face.

“What?” she grumbled, rubbing her eye tiredly and letting out a yawn.

“We need to hop back in the water. Your tail’s drying out.” Then, under his breath he mumbled, “No wonder you’re so tired.”

“Alright, alright,” Annabeth grumbled, shoving his face away playfully and sitting up. With a bit of effort – though she insisted on doing this on her own – she scooted to the water’s edge, slowly dipping in until her tail was floating, and then leaned back on her hands. Feeling the cool water soak into her scales, she actually did feel more awake. Percy walked up a moment later, carrying her bag in one hand and using the other to pull out the string of beads. In all of her excitement at discovering a new world, she had completely forgotten about the item.

He squatted down next to her, holding the beads toward her. “May I?”

She nodded once and he moved to sit behind her, radiating all kinds of heat. Swallowing thickly, she sat up and leaned forward to scoop some water on her arms. Her skin was too warm. She almost jumped when his hands tentatively touched her scalp.

They sat in silence for several minutes as Percy wove the beads into her curls, tying her hair into an intricate knot. She was hyper-aware of every move he made; every brush of his fingers against her neck, every inch he scooted closer to get a better angle, every breath that ghosted across her skin. It was strange how she could feel so relaxed and yet so… _not_ at the same time. After a moment, she spoke up in an attempt to ease the tension that was building in her body.

“Percy?” He hummed in response. “Why did you pick me?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why am I the only one you decided to trust with your secret?”

The boy’s hands slowed and he was quiet. She wondered if she had asked too much, but suddenly his hand swiped up her spine to gather more hair and she instead focused on suppressing a shiver. “I don’t like parading around and telling people that I’m the son of Poseidon. You know that.”

She huffed. “Well, _yes_ I know that, but why? What’s so bad about being a god?”

“Do you know what I’d have to put up with if they knew?” he said incredulously. “I’d be asked for favors left and right, asked to do stuff that I can’t do, and then I’d be blamed when I couldn’t fulfill their wishes. On top of that, there are all the people who’d try to be my friend because of _status, _not because they actually liked me.” He sighed, sounding melancholy. “That’s not the kind of attention I want.”__

__He wrapped her hair in a final knot before pulling his hands away, but she continued to stare straight ahead, clenching her hands together tightly. She was too afraid to look at him. It was taking all of her focus to muster up the courage for her next question. If she saw his face, she’d lose it. So she didn’t turn around._ _

__“How… how do you know I’m not one of those people?”_ _

__The waves were deafening in her ears and she held her breath, waiting for him to move, to speak, to do _something._ Seconds felt like minutes. Then, she heard him stand and her heart fell. He was leaving. She knew at once that she’d crossed the line; that she’d lost his friendship, which was so precious to her. And now it was gone. Tears sprung up in her eyes and she let out a shaky breath as the crunch of sand beneath feet echoed in her ears._ _

__And suddenly, she was staring at his concerned face. Percy kneeled down in front of her, taking her hands in his and stroking them with his thumbs._ _

__“Because I _know_ you, Annabeth.”_ _

__She didn’t even bother hiding the shiver that ran down her spine and settled in her stomach with his words. The concern didn’t leave his face and the crease between his brows grew deeper when he noticed how her eyes were abnormally shiny._ _

__He reached up and cupped the side of her face, then questioned softly, “Am I… is this burdening you?”_ _

__“Never,” she whispered without hesitation. If he thought he was a burden, Percy would leave, and she couldn’t have that. He was her best friend. It was already torturous enough when he disappeared for weeks at a time, but if he were gone forever? She didn’t think she’d be able to handle it._ _

__Yet he remained there, smiling at her and soothing his thumb on her cheek. The conviction in her answer must have eased his worries. She smiled softly, then punched his arm in an attempt to lighten the heavy atmosphere around them._ _

__“You’re stuck with me, got it? Don’t even think of bailing out.”_ _

__He laughed loudly and rubbed his bicep. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”_ _

__Just then, a loud, rumbling noise echoed through the air and made Annabeth jump. She threw her gaze to the sky and saw that the once brilliant blue had somehow turned into a lumpy gray mess. How had she not noticed? She turned as much of her body as she could around to look behind her. The horizon was dark and hazy, the air was cold and somehow heavier, and her heart felt like it would leap out of her chest at any moment._ _

__“Percy…” she called nervously, reaching out and gripping his forearm. He scooped her up in his arms again and she adjusted her death-grip to his shoulders, not daring to take her eyes off the gray sky that loomed above them as he walked further inland._ _

__“It’s thunder, Annabeth,” he soothed. _Thunder._ Even the word sounded threatening. “This is actually what I wanted to show you.”_ _

__She looked at him like he was crazy and he couldn’t help but laugh._ _

__“My father’s brother is the god of the sky, and I learned that he was planning a storm in this area.” When her expression went unchanged, he spoke again. “It won’t hurt you. It’s actually really cool. I promise you’ll like it.”_ _

__“W-what’s so special about thunder?”_ _

__He grinned at her, eyes bright in contrast with the darkness surrounding them. “Oh, it’s not the thunder that I’m talking about.”_ _

__Something warm dripped onto her nose._ _

__“It’s the rain.”_ _

__Startled, she looked up at the sky just as another drop hit her forehead. She reached up and touched the liquid, then brought it down to her line of sight. When she saw what it was, her mind nearly went blank._ _

__Water._ _

__Water?_ _

__It was water._ _

__Water was falling from the sky._ _

__She took a deep, shaky breath, eyes widening._ _

___Water was falling from the sky!_ _ _

__Annabeth turned her wide-eyed gaze to the dark masses above them. Slowly, she lifted her hands above her head, reaching for the sky as far as she could. Tiny droplets hit her open palms in quick succession. A grin lit up her face. It was amazing. Her hair started sticking to her forehead and thunder sounded in the background, but she didn’t care. Water was falling from those gray things. _It was amazing.__ _

__She looked back to Percy. Her happiness was beyond words, but he knew how she was feeling. Somehow, he always knew. Seeing her joy made his excitement grow ten-fold, and before she knew what was happening, he was hopping around and dancing in circles. She tightened her grip around him and laughed freely, loving every moment of it. Loving every moment with him. He threw his head back and opened his mouth wide, spinning with her in his arms. She copied his movements and the rainwater started falling in her mouth and on her tongue. It wasn’t salty, which was surprising but not unwelcome. Her eyes shut tight, she felt the rain start pelting her face harder and squealed, sitting back up and shaking her head._ _

__Percy stopped spinning and they looked at each other, grinning like maniacs. He was panting slightly from all of the movement. Without thinking, she brought a hand to his face and stroked his cheek gently. His smile slowly dissipated and he stared at her with rapt attention._ _

__“Thank you,” she whispered._ _

__His eyes softened, almost looking more emerald than seafoam green. The air felt electric around them; whether it was from the storm or from some unseen force, she did not know. It sent goosebumps sprawling across her skin. He said nothing. She let her eyes roam freely around his face, and her stomach jumped._ _

__Truth was, she liked Percy. She liked him a lot. So, when she noticed his head slowly moving closer, she inched forward too. And that was all the permission he needed._ _

__He dipped down and kissed her._ _

__It was like nothing she had ever experienced. The rain was soaking them to the bone, droplets from his hair rolling down the curve of her cheek and onto her neck. All she could hear was her heart pounding in her ears; all she could think of was him. When she moved her hand into his hair, she felt his calloused fingers curl into her back and he pulled her as close as he could._ _

__She never wanted this to end._ _

__It had to, of course. He broke away and pulled back just enough to look at her without going cross-eyed. Both of them were flushed and panting; neither said a word. Then, nervously, he offered a smile, and she felt herself falling harder. Any lingering trepidation vanished at once when she smiled back._ _

__And then a strong wind nearly knocked them over. Percy stumbled for a moment before righting himself and laughing loudly._ _

__“We should probably get back in the water.”_ _

__She nodded her agreement and he took off in a playful sprint, leaping into the ocean._ _

**Author's Note:**

> Don't think I ever mentioned this in the story, but Percy's human form includes shorts.  
> Thanks for taking the time to read! It was fun to write!
> 
> *Moved from my tumblr*


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